After months of bitter debate and overnight public meetings, Mayor Rob Ford saw many of the cuts in a budget he championed reversed Tuesday during a raucous session at City Hall.

As 100 protesters raged outside the seat of municipal government, a coalition of councillors voted in a bloc to prevent $19-million worth of service reductions this year, most notably deciding to spend $5-million to reinstate TTC service and sparing the library another $3.9-million cut.

The $15-million “socially sustainable” set of proposals put forward by centrist rookie Councillor Josh Colle means there will still be free recreation programs at priority centres, 10 ice rinks will stay open during the day, community grants are protected and parents will not have to pay another $2 for daycare at city centres.

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Three shelters, mechanical leaf collection and three daycares also avoided the knife thanks to the midtown councillor’s motion that uses some of the $154-million surplus the Mayor had insisted go toward new streetcars.

It passed 23 to 21.

The whole budget, with further amendments that restore funding to the immigrant women’s health centre, among other programs, passed 39 to 5.

Afterwards, the Mayor lashed out at those councillors who voted against his austerity measures.

“They see money in front of them, and it’s like putting food in front of a dog. They just can’t resist,” he said.

Yet, despite what even his allies called a setback and a slap to the office of the Mayor, Mr. Ford still claimed victory.

“We are spending less money this year than we did last year. That is absolutely unheard of,” Mayor Ford told reporters, touting that council “held” the property tax hike to 2.5% and did not reinstate more services. “That’s a huge victory, that’s like trying to stop a tidal wave, and we fended them off,” he said.

Members of the coalition that included centrist, left- and right-leaning councillors had a vastly different take, going so far as to suggest it may signal a power shift at City Hall.

“Torontonians won, they won $19- and $20-million of the worst cuts that would have denigrated the life of Toronto,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc, noting the Mayor was on the losing side of many key votes. “He frankly lost the day quite miserably.”

Added Councillor Adam Vaughan: “There has been a change here, council has decided it’s going to run the city.”

The vote capped off what has been a tense round of budget-making as the Ford administration sought to make gains in its quest for a smaller, less expensive city government.

By Tuesday, the $9.4-billion operating budget had already undergone a number of changes, after the budget and executive committees voted to use nearly $9-million in additional tax revenue to protect student nutrition programs, reduce cuts to libraries, keep offering programs at pools and community centres in schools and continue to clear sidewalks of snow in the suburbs. Prior to council’s changes, the budget proposed $80-million in cuts, $137-million in efficiencies and included a 10¢ TTC fare increase. More than 1,000 people will be laid off as a result.

Amid a barrage of motions, the Mayor’s allies rose to argue that many of the changes being promoted simply didn’t make sense, such as keeping open three daycares with dwindling numbers.

At one point Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday got visibly frustrated with a group of parents and youngsters who were arguing to keep funding school pools, saying they didn’t want to listen to the facts about how much it costs the city. “It costs $12 to swim as opposed to $2. And you think the city is made of money and we’re just going to throw it down the drain,” said an exasperated Mr. Holyday. Afterwards, he lamented that some councillors were unable to “withstand the pressure” and make tough decisions, but it’s “far from the end of the world.”

Councillor Colle, in particular, was subjected to an intense cross-examination by Ford allies. Councillor Mammoliti accused him of trying to fund “pet projects,” and called the move “sneaky,” while Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said the proposal was “soft-headed” and simply forces the city to have the same debate about its structural deficit in the next budget.

Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon defended her fellow centrist, saying that Mr. Colle’s ward does not benefit from a lot of the programs saved.

Afterwards, Councillor Colle defended the “tweaks,” saying it was council’s one and only chance to put its mark on the budget.

“To suggest that because we added in 0.16% of the operating budget, [that] is not reckless spending,” he said. “This is what our residents wanted; it was prudent. We settled on a prudent budget that was fiscally responsible and addressed some of the concerns that people brought up.”

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